Colosseum, Rome

Main Content

Colosseum, Rome

Photograph by Heather Perry, National Geographic

The Roman Colosseum, like many iconic sites, has surely been photographed thousands of times. Yet in this terrific view, Heather Perry has used a long exposure time to blur the monument into an image never seen before. —Annie Griffiths

Photo Tip: Every photograph is actually a time exposure. Images may be recorded in a fraction of a second or over hours of time. Yet many people never realize that they can use time as a creative tool in photography. Remember that the shutter speed can be adjusted to do either very long or instantaneous exposures.